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Final Fantasy XI Review by Derek Czerkaski, MMORPG.COM Final Fantasy XI, by Square Enix, has enjoyed a successful run over the course of the last three years; four years if you were playing the imported Japanese version. The game has changed dramatically during this time, with the addition of three expansion packs, and numerous content updates provided to the players for free. Bringing in an approximate 500, 000 subscriptions a month, FFXI has proven itself to consistently please its old player base, while continuing to draw in new customers to the world of Vana'diel. Story One of the more interesting aspects of FFXI is that there is a dark, complex storyline supporting the mainframe of the game. The opening movie will show you the background concerning the war between the Beastmen and the Alliance of mankind. Before one can even begin to immerse oneself in the world of FFXI, players will pledge their Allegiance to one of three nations; Bastok, San'Doria, or Windurst. Each nation has its own separate storyline, yet all three will guide players to uncovering the secret evil that lies in the shadows in the world of Vana'Diel. Players advance through the storyline by completing missions issued by their home nation. By advancing their "Rank", players will be rewarded with more storyline details, access to new areas to explore, and even exclusive pieces of gear. There are other hidden privileges as well to gaining rank... such as the ability to travel between cities on the infamous airships. On top of the original storyline, the numerous expansion packs have added in-depth sub-plots into the game. The "Rise of the Zilart", the "Chains of Promathia", and the "Treasures of Aht-Urghan" all present new challenges, storylines, and rewards to the players who dare to complete them. The storyline is one of the finest qualities about FFXI, as it provides even the highest level players with something to do after they've hit the level cap. However, there is one particular weakness presented by the mission-based storyline. While in the early stages of the game, nearly all of the missions are very simple, and can be soloed with minimal effort. Naturally, the missions will become more difficult, and require a party, and in some cases, numerous parties to complete them. However, the difficulty curve in missions is both quick and unforgiving. Players will not be able to advance very far into the storyline until they have hit the level cap, 75, or without the aid of numerous high level friends. Whether this was the intention of Square Enix or a flaw in the game's design is not my place to say, however, I found it frustrating personally to advance halfway through the game's storyline, only to be stonewalled for nearly 40 more levels. Essentially, if you aren't planning on playing this game all the way to the end, there's a very good chance you won't be able to truly appreciate the game's storyline. Even if you do manage to hit the level cap, you will not be able to progress without the aid of numerous friends/allies, and the missions can take several hours to complete. It requires a certain degree of dedication and networking to really enjoy advancing the plot. Character Creation/Customization FFXI has a very limited amount of options regarding the creation of your personal avatar. There are five races, each specially suited for a particular roll by default. For example, Galka, the gorilla-like race, has an exceptional amount of vitality and life points, and therefore are naturally better tanks than other races. This can discourage players from experimenting at earlier levels, but the difference is not so terribly significant to force a player to play a certain race and job combination. Of the five races, there are only eight face options, with a minimal amount of pallet-swapping options. As a result, you'll be running into your twins quite a lot in the World of Vana'diel. There are also size options; small, medium, and large. While they don't really appear noticeable, if you stand beside a character of a different size, you'll notice a slight difference. At the beginning of the game, you'll only have the option to choose between the six starting jobs. When you advance to level 18, you'll quest to acquire your "sub-job", which will allow you to choose a secondary job to help enhance your primary profession choice. Upon reaching level 30, you will be able to quest for a variety of "advanced jobs". These are not necessarily better than the starting classes, but they tend to be more specialized in a particular field, or else they serve as a hybrid between two different classes. Lastly, as I mentioned in the previous section, you'll choose which nation you want to pledge your allegiance to before you begin playing the game. Certain races are rewarded for starting in certain nations. For example, Bastok is the home of the Hume race and the Galka race, so if you pledge allegiance to Bastok, and you're a Galka or a Hume, you'll receive an exclusive ring when you start the game. Also, your home city's storyline will reflect on the history of your chosen race, so it may be of interest to the player to start at their designated nation. Do not be discouraged though, there's no requirement to serve any city, so if you'd prefer to serve Windurst as a Hume, you won't be penalized for doing so, you just won't start off with the nifty ring. Graphics: 8 Final Fantasy XI has some spectacular graphics, given its age and its consumer base. Unlike most MMORPG's, FFXI can be played on the PC, the PS2, and the Xbox360 with all the players play on the same servers. This has both a positive, and a negative effect on the graphical quality. I applaud SE for making a game that is so highly detailed and beautiful for three different systems. Character models look smooth on all resolution settings, and armor sets and weapon animations are very crisp. You can see the rain coming down from the sky, and look up at night and see a full moon and numerous stars. However, it disappoints me that there is not an option to improve the graphical performance for the PC users. While I understand that the consoles may not have the hardware capabilities of a gaming rig, it is a mystery to me why SE has chosen not to make improved graphics for the people who do possess the capability of running the game at higher settings. There are some truly wonderful graphic moments in FFXI. Performing weapon-skills, doing advanced skill chains, or certain festival events tend to look really amazing. Other things, such as looking at the lifeless, dreary water or the lack of a "lively" looking environment can tend to remove some of the immersion from the game. Little things like that can detract from the rating of FFXI's graphics, but overall, the game is prettier than the average MMP. Sound/Music: 5 To rate FFXI's sound quality can be somewhat difficult. On one hand, it is my opinion that even the best MMORPG score will grow tiresome after playing the game for so long, no matter the quality. On the other hand, some tracks are just so damned amazing, that you'll find yourself humming them to yourself at work. For the sound effects, I honestly can't say anything positive about. The noise of your character swinging their weapon at the enemy is, at best, dull and uninspired. I find it amusing that stabbing a plant with a dagger makes nearly the same sound as attacking a golem with a great axe, an empty hollow "thud" style sound. Spells do make numerous different sounds, and seem to have a nice variety. Fire spells make a wonderful scorching sound, Ice spells make a clinking, shattering sound, and so on and so forth. Other things are also ignored. For example, Bards have numerous different songs and instruments, but all of them sound the same. The music in FFXI isn't much better. Some zones lack music altogether, and all you can hear is the blowing of the invisible wind and the distant tumble-weed in the background. Some zones have some very interesting music however. Any Final Fantasy fan will recognize the notorious chocobo music while riding the giant chicken across the landscapes of Vana'diel. The problem within the sound effects and the music in FFXI is the consistency. There are specific moments where the music is intense, and really fits in well with the setting, and other times where the melody is downright annoying, or even absent. For this reason, I cannot possibly pass them in this category. Role-Playing: 3 Role-playing is present in FFXI and the world of Vana'diel, even though it's very, very rare. There are presently not any designated role-playing servers, and it's a rarity to observe much present in-game. If role-playing is your hobby, I'd have to advise against FFXI. Other mainstream games provide many more opportunities for genuine role-playing. Community: 8 The community is both FFXI's strongest and weakest point overall. Having played through more than a dozen MMORPGs, I've had a taste of both the good and the bad of the communities in the genre. FFXI is a very group-oriented game. Almost three hours into the game, you'll be partying for the rest of your experience in Vana'diel. As a result, good social networking, and a healthy amount of friends is essential for you to be successful. You'll want to be friends with that Goldsmith so that they can make you a ring when you hit that certain level. You'll want to be friends with the White Mage and the Ninja so that you can work together with them on completing that next mission. Solo opportunities are very minimal in FFXI, and while Square Enix has slowly modified their game to be a bit friendlier to the lone wolf style of play, for the most of the game, you'll be playing with numerous other players. Most players are generally willing to help you out with advice, and possibly a quest/mission if you're intelligent and ask politely. Be warned though, beggars and imbeciles will be given no quarter in the world of Vana'diel. One of the fastest ways to make someone's blacklist is to beg them for money, gear, or items. The FFXI community is a very closely knit one, so you'll be playing with the same people you did at level one when you hit level 75. For this reason, it's important to create and maintain close relationships with the players you encounter, because you never know when you'll run into them again, and possibly even need their help. "Raid" events, also known as "Alliance" events in FFXI, will require the gathering of numerous parties of adventurers. These types of events will require several (countless) hours, lots of teamwork, and a good amount of dedication for everyone. Specific events, such as Dynamis or Limbus, can be frustrating, because if you don't know the right people, or have enough money, you will not be able to participate. At one point, there was a serious issue regarding the presence of Real-market-trade, or RMT, in the game. Companies like IGE and others had allegedly hired so many Chinamen farmers, that the economy in-game was literally ruined. Items that once cost 10, 000 Gil shot up to 3, 000, 000 Gil, and money essentially lost all value. Other items were completely monopolized by the gilsellers, and as a result, many players lost the opportunity to farm certain areas or acquire certain pieces of gear. However, the good news is that SE took measures against RMTers, and banned nearly 800 accounts suspected of engaging in RMT practices. Since then, the economies have stabilized, and the gilsellers have disappeared. Unfortunately, it appears they are rapidly re-emerging, however, they now sell accounts instead of in-game currency. Yep…that party of six Galka Black Mages that's been leveling non-stop for four days…those might well be your local sweat-shop grinders. That said, you cannot dock them too much for this, as this is an issue with every MMORPG and SE has taken measures to fend it off. The end-game community will make or break many players interest in the game. It is one of cut-throat competition, and there's really no room for people who aren't there to win. Third party programs, such as claim-bots, are prevalent, and hacking is not only condoned, but practiced frequently. It can be very frustrating to try and kill that one Notorious Monster, also called an NM, when you see an infamous botter sitting there, waiting to hack the claim on the mob. Also, backstabbing, deceit, and treachery become prevalent in the end-game, and a player who isn't careful is likely to get burned. Another issue that many have with the community is the presence of server icons. Certain linkshells tend to dominate all aspects of the end-game on each server, and if you're not a part of that linkshell, you won't be reaping in any rewards for all your hard work. This is a large detriment in my experience, because many social linkshells tend to dissolve so that players can enlist with the dreaded Hyper-Notorious-Monster linkshells, also known as the HNM shells. As a result, many players will be forced to choose between enjoying a socially-friendly community, or a labor-driven reward-based community. A final concern for many players is more than likely the roll of PvP in FFXI. PvP is completely optional, and takes place in a mode called "Ballista". Players will pay to rent a small area of land, and will fight out members of opposing nations. Other options include renting small, private battlefields, in which you may freely brawl one another, or play a game similar to capture-the-flag. It can be fun, but there are glaring imbalances in PvP, and since it is such a minute part of the game, it's unlikely these imbalances will ever be addressed. Overall, community is a mixed bag. It has major, major problems, but the opening early game make it like a family of pirates (the ship kind, not the internet kind.). Sure, there is a lot of bad stuff going on, but if you stick around, you'll love them anyway. Performance/Lag: 9 FFXI runs very well, and is 56k friendly. This is due to the 56k cap on all users. As a result of a constant latency between all users, lag is minimal, even for those who play on dial-up. It has been very successful, and all players seem to enjoy the performance of the game. The downside is that players can never surpass 28 frames per second, so the game never flows perfectly smooth. That said, the human eye only registered 30 frames a second, so it's not really that big of a deal. The only time performance seems to be an issue is right after content updates, expansion packs, or large patches. However, this seems to be normal in the world of MMORPG's, and is usually resolved within 24 hours. Customer Service: 3 Customer service in FFXI is rather laughable. GM's are seemingly powerless to do anything. If you trade an item and it disappears, that item is gone forever, and it won't be getting replaced. While billing issues can usually be resolved with great efficiency, in-game problems are normally just ignored. It can be extremely frustrating when a repeat botter is constantly reported, and no action is taken to prevent these illegal activities from going on. One other thing of interest is the fact that Square Enix will nullify your content ID, which is essentially deleting your character, if you stop playing for more than three months. Considering inactive characters aren't really affecting their server, it seems peculiar that they would not want to secure their customer's satisfaction by just leaving their character alone, at least for a longer amount of time. Games like Dark Age of Camelot have kept characters forever and it's absolutely laughable that Square Enix does not. Fun: 8 I won't say that FFXI is fun for all, only that it can be fun. It will depend on your personal play style. FFXI is not a game for the casual player. Advancement requires a great amount of dedication to your character, your guild and your in-game finances. I would say that if you can dedicate at least 20 hours a week that you can enjoy this game. However, if you only have an hour or two to play every other day, than I can't honestly advise you to buy this game. There's a variety of things to do to keep you interested in FFXI. You'll be plenty occupied by leveling for the majority of the game. Should you decide that's not enough, there's seven complete storylines for you to play through with your linkshell. Maybe you'd like to spend some time crafting or fishing on a slow day. Also, there's a huge array of quests to be completed throughout the various cities in the game. Top it off with the festivals that are held to celebrate certain holidays, and you should be occupied nearly all the time. For the more demanding players, there are exciting events like Dynamis and Limbus; large raid content that takes several hours to complete, where player can acquire some extremely special gear sets. There's Ballista, and sometimes, there's inter-server PvP contests between players and guilds alike, called Brenner. In the next upcoming update, SE has announced that they will even be implementing chocobo breeding and chocobo racing, which will add all sorts of new excitement to the game. One of the newest features, Besieged, is particularly fun and rewarding. Essentially, it's a large gathering of Beastmen enemies, who will ''invade'' a particular zone. Players must band together and fend off the Beastmen invasions, or they will risk large hordes of high level mobs running rampant through that area. While this is still slightly an in-works event, as in I don't believe they've figured out which difficulty is suitable, it's very entertaining. To this point, I'm proud to say that most of the servers are still undefeated, and the Beastmen have not achieved a successful invasion. Lastly, the game's learning curve is very simple, yet still appealing to the experienced vets. A veteran can hop onto FFXI and master it within a few minutes, and even a newcomer to the genre (and even if this is your first online game, you can pick it up and get the hang...) can pick up the game and get the hang of it within a few hours. A special challenge to all those who believe they are truly tough (skilled); I'd ask you to try and fight Absolute Virtue. That's a super-god, who takes a minimum of a full day, real life time, to be killed. So yes, this game deserves an eight, if you're this type of hardcore MMO player. You'll just want to make some good friends, spend a decent amount of time on it, and spread out your time on things besides just grinding to level 75. Value: 8 Regarding the game's value, I definitely believe that if you're the right type of player, this game is more than worth the initial monetary investment. There's something for everyone, provided you have the time to dedicate to the game. I would recommend that all moderate to hardcore online gamers give this game a shot. Overall While the game is not perfect, it's both a memorable and an enjoyable gaming experience, and I think it has a lot to offer any player who's willing to give it a fair chance. With three expansion packs out, an upcoming balance patch and chocobo breeding/racing right around the corner, now is a wonderful time to enter the world of Vana'diel, and live out your own adventure. The overall score is dipped by some serious problems on the periphery of the gaming experience. This is one of those games that is more than the sum of its parts. Overall Score: 6.5

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source :: computing news press service

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